Who made you who you are?

Over the holidays, I was blessed to spend a few relaxing days at home. During that time, I took the opportunity to find a new series to watch on Netflix. The show I chose is called Lie to Me. It is a fantastic show premised upon the science of deception.

In the show the lead character, Dr. Cal Lightman, has studied this science for many years while one of his newest members of the team, Ria Torres, possesses a natural talent for identifying the unspoken communication of movements in the face, body, and sentence structure, that indicate deception.

In an intense scene, from season one, some of Ria's past is revealed. While this past is painful for her, Dr. Lightman is in her face and tells her that the person responsible for her pain is the reason she has a natural gift for identifying deception. His exact words were, "He made you who you are."

While Ria seems to take this revelation in, she then turns the question back on to Dr. Lightman and asks him who that person is from his past that made him who he is. The episode ends there and leaves the viewer with this heavy thought.

Naturally, I began to reflect on my own life and the events and people that have made me who I am. While there are so many wonderful people and events that have shaped my life, there are some very painful ones as well. While I won't go into any of those things here, this one scene has had a lasting impact.

What I have learned in this life is that our pain is often not even for us. Many times it has shaped us to become people that are able to be a blessing to others. Although Dr. Lightman and Ria Torres are characters from a show, the life principal is solid.

We are survivors. We are created for a high purpose. Our pain is not in vain. We are responsible for using the gifts life has given us to help as many people as possible.